


Surmount

by LadyHumZbird



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: A little drama mixed in there, Action/Adventure, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Humor, M/M, Slow burn... kinda, mature themes like drug use and torture, yes this is a Ben Solo au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2016-09-11
Packaged: 2018-08-11 12:31:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7892410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyHumZbird/pseuds/LadyHumZbird
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All because Ben was never sent to Jedi school.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is my submission to the Kylux Book Project: Ben Solo Au.  
> All credit for this au goes hicstrem0/kyleauxwren on tumblr  
> For more of my kylux art, [check my tumblr account](http://humzbird.tumblr.com/)  
> I hope I make Senpai hicstrem0 proud!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This first chapter is actually more of a prologue than the main story. The chapters following this one will also be longer in word count. I'll even have chapter two posted pretty soon so you won't be disappointed with how short this starts off.

“You are making a mistake, boy.”

Hux resisted the urge to defensively cross his arms at the name. Even through small holo projections on his desk, Snoke had a way of pushing buttons until you submitted to rage. He was notorious for that technique. But Hux had no intentions to satisfy him with anger. “A mistake with no foreseeable consequences, yes.”

“I can assure you there will be.”

“And _I_ can assure you for the _third_ time in the past two monthly cycles that the First Order is well off without the influence of your questionable religion.”

Snoke stood from his holographic throne. “Have you forgotten who you are, boy? Have you forgotten what you were _raised_ to accomplish? Your First Order is nothing but a paltry successor to the once great Empire, a military regime whom was in _alliance_ with the dark side of the force until its collapse. Your choice to deviate from an alliance with me would be to forsake everything The Order stands for.”

“As far as I am concerned, Lord Snoke, you have provided nothing substantial to The Order. A small group of elite knights has little merit when compared to an entire army of Troopers. I have plans for The Order that would be easily carried out without your influence.”

“Do not confuse power with overconfidence, young General.” Snoke said as he sat back in his throne. A small, malevolent grin spread across his face. “You have lived in this galaxy for merely twenty-eight standard years, and have only had the position of _General_ for less than one. One does not simply get _promoted_ to your position at such a young age.”

Hux was admittedly beginning to feel irritated at this point. “Very good, Lord Snoke. Your math skills are indeed up to par.”

“Your satire amuses me, boy. I did not think you capable of such a thing.”

Hux felt his eye twitch at that. He realized then that Snoke had him trapped. There was nothing he could say or do to refute the presence of his rising anger.

When Hux said nothing in return, Snoke leaned forward in his chair and continued, “How many high officials’ throats did you have to slit in their sleep in order to obtain this power? Was your father one of them?”

Hux was now visibly tensing, but he still did not speak. “Yes… indeed he was. I can sense your thoughts all the way from here. You are practically screaming it in your head. You hated him. You want to be proud of yourself, but there is a swell of doubt gnawing at you. How weak. You are no General, boy! You are nothing but a tantruming child trapped in the body of a statue, and you will lead the First Order to disaster! You will fail-!”

Hux switched off the holo projector before even realizing what he was doing. Not a very strategic move (and not to mention, unprofessional), as it only confirmed to Snoke that his accusations were on point.

Hux exhaled shakily, having not realized he had been holding his breath, and pulled a cigarette from a drawer in his desk. He furrowed his brow as he lit the thing, replaying the whole conversation in his head. Snoke had no right to impose his little _cult_ onto The Order. They didn’t need the dark side in order to rule the galaxy. Snoke will see. With time, he will make the First Order more powerful than the Empire ever was.

 

* * *

 

Luke Skywalker carefully wove his way through a particularly lively crowd in a Coruscanti nightclub.  An upbeat techno dance song played through the speakers overhead, with the volume cranked so loud, Luke could feel the bass notes shake through his bones. The crowd jumped and swayed, and the lights pulsed along with the beat, making the room feel alive with youthful, but inebriated energy. He wished to the stars he could find who he was looking for soon. With so many things happening around him, it was becoming distracting even for him. But the radiating energy of a force user was unmistakable in this location.

A couple death stick offers and an almost-brawl with a very wasted Rodian man later, Luke rounded a corner just in time to see a small crowd of people cheering as his nephew, Ben Solo, sucked glowing green booze out of the belly button of a barely conscious Twi’lek man.

_Target spotted. Approach with caution._

Ben turned his head and coughed once, then stood with his arms outstretched in a triumphant pose, momentarily losing his balance from getting up too fast. Two girls and one man who had been standing next to him crowded him at once, and assaulted his face with their mouths. The crowd cheered again.

“I can’t believe you’re senator Organa’s son! That is so awesome!” One of the girls squealed drunkenly.

“It’s totally hot! You’re so hot!” the other pitched in, not taking her mouth away from his neck.

Ben finally spoke, and he sounded the drunkest of them all. “G – *hic* – guys, yer all sooper hot, so I wan’ everyone t’ do shots offa me next!

The collective “Yeeeaaah!” of approval that came from the crowd turned into another enthusiastic cheer as Ben struggled to get his shirt off, revealing an impressive 8-pack that had all the girls and even a few guys squealing. He finally pulled it off and tossed it away with a look of drunken smugness, which quickly turned to shock when he noticed where it landed.

The excitement in the crowd smoldered out as they all turned to see a very unamused Luke Skywalker pull the sweat and liquor stained shirt off his face. “ _Ben_ ,” he said sternly, “We’re leaving. Your mother wants to know where you’ve disappeared to.”

“Luke, I’m jus’ here t’ get drunk. Lemme get drunk.”

“Yes, it certainly seems that way.” Luke said deadpanly, crossing his arms. “You’ve clearly had enough tonight.”

“He said he doesn’t want to leave, old man.” The boy who had previously made out with Ben said, which was followed by several ‘yeah’s throughout the crowd.

“You all have had enough fun tonight, and you want to go home now.” Luke said monotonely.

“We all have had enough fun tonight, and we want to go home now.” The crowd repeated, and disbanded in various directions.

“Well thas no fair.” Ben slurred, before Luke placed his hand over his shoulders and guided him outside. He helped Ben into his parked cruiser and took off toward the Senate tower. Luke tried to go as slow as legally possible in the hopes that Ben wouldn’t expel glowing vomit all over the rented vehicle. Instead, Ben simply leaned his head against the window and stared down at his lap, eyelids flickering.

Luke finally broke the silence. “There are healthier ways to entertain yourself on this planet, you know.”

“I told you I jus wanned t’ get drunk.”

“Well perhaps you could’ve done it in a way that doesn’t make your mother look so bad. She has enough on her hands already.”

“You don’ understand! I had to stop th’ voice as soon as possible!”

“The voice?” Luke looked over at his nephew. Not a single speck of humor was on his face. “It’s back, then?”

“It came outta nowhere. ‘T was so loud this time. I _had_ to drown it out.”

“Oh, Ben… Maybe if you’d let-”

“ _No_.”

“It really would help you, and you know it’s not too late. I was just about your age when I first started to learn.”

Ben crossed his arms. “I wan’ as little to do with the force as possible, old man.”

“Very well.” Luke sighed as they pulled up to the tower. “Still… a _nightclub_ , Ben? There are plenty of lower-profile locations near us.”

Ben paused for a long while, a look of hard thinking twisting his face. “I don’ remember starting there.”

Luke shook his head and opened the door. “Are you always going to be this unpredictable?”

“You can count on it,” Ben said with a snort.


	2. Chapter 2

_Seven years later…_

 

“Sir! The Rebels have boarded! We have to get you to the escape pods _now_!”

General Hux resisted the impulse to protest as Captain Phasma grabbed him by the bicep and jerked him towards the nearest hydraulic door. A bold action, but quite excusable given the present situation.

They were aboard a Star Destroyer, one that was smaller than the Finalizer, and currently hovering over a lifeless planet which held a surplus of valuable resources for the construction of Starkiller base. Hux and Phasma had only been there for a few cycles to oversee production. What were the odds that had to be attacked now? Hux briefly wondered if and how the Rebels could have tracked them to this rather insignificant corner of the galaxy, but filed it away for another time. Phasma was right. They had to escape quickly.

The duo rushed through the halls of the ship, Phasma being sure to check around every corner before taking off in a mad dash again. Hux followed right behind, actively trying to suppress the small entrails of panic that threatened his thoughts. Fortunately, he was very good in that regard, having had his whole life to perfect the skill of mood suppression. Plus, Phasma was a very capable officer, and that more than reassured him… not that he would ever need reassurance, of course.

They made it to the elevator without any incident. Although by this time, the Ship’s alarm system had been triggered. Hux did his best to ignore the blaring sirens and flashing red lights. Instead he began cursing the designer of this ship for not integrating a stairwell in the case of emergency evacuation. As the elevator door closed, he could tell Phasma was thinking the same thing.

The level with the nearest escape pods was seven floors down. As they waited, Phasma pulled a handgun from her belt and handed it to the General. “We don’t know what will be on the other side of those doors.” Hux gave her a curt nod, and the two leaned back against either side of the car as their level approached.

The door opened, and the car was immediately filled with smoke and blaster flashes. He could not see it, but the Rebels and a group of Troopers seemed to be engaged in combat just down the corridor. Right between Hux and his escape. Phasma swore, and moved carefully out of the elevator, making sure to not draw attention with her heavy footsteps. “If they see you, they’ll surely kill you. We need a distraction, sir. I’ll run at them and chase them off. You have to get to the escape pods yourself now.”

“Phasma, that’s suicide.”

“You’re my General, sir. It’s part of the job.”

The smoke had begun to clear out, revealing a small group of Rebels marching towards them, with several dead bodies from both sides littering the floor. Phasma took the chance to catch them off guard, letting out a battle cry as she charged at them while she fired her blaster rifle. A couple Rebels turned immediately and ran, and the other few that stood to fight were quickly shot down.

“Backup! Call for backup!” One of the Rebels screamed as the three figures disappeared around a corner.

Pistol raised, Hux quietly exited the car and slowly moved along the wall towards his destination. Up ahead was an intersection where two corridors met. The escape pods would be down the left turn. Just as Hux moved to sprint down the hall, he heard voices and heavy footsteps coming from the right. He slammed his body back against the wall.

_That must be backup._

His eyes quickly went to the dead bodies around him, searching for a more suitable weapon, when he noticed one of the Trooper bodies huddled up against the wall, not two meters away. It wasn’t even dead, it was shaking!

Hux approached the cowering mess and barked, “Trooper!”

The Trooper let out a sharp gasp, stood to attention, and saluted. “General Hux, sir!”

“Identify yourself!”

“FN 2187, sir!”

“Where is your weapon?”

“I-I’m in sanitation, sir! I don’t have one!” The trooper was still saluting, which clearly revealed how much his hand was shaking.

Hux suppressed the impulse to call this one pathetic when heard the Rebels nearing. He inwardly sighed. _Desperate times, Hux._

Without warning, the Trooper received a hard kick to the lower back and was sent careening out in the open. Right in view of the Rebels.

“There’s one! Get him!”

“AAAAHHHH!!!”

Hux watched as the Trooper stumbled and ran straight down the corridor. A group of Rebels rounded the corner and gave chase, none of them bothering to look in Hux’s direction. Idiots. Now there was nothing between him and his escape.

…Or so he thought.

The moment he took a step forward, he felt his gun suddenly yanked away from his hand. Before he could react, the weapon sailed right past his head. He turned around to see it fly right into the outstretched hand of a girl… who was holding a blue lightsaber.

Hux felt his blood freeze. He had never personally encountered a Jedi before. He had only ever seen found footage holo projections of them in primary school, and he was admittedly intimidated by their supernatural skills. Unpredictable and dangerous. And now there was one standing right in front of him. At first glance, she hardly seemed intimidating by the way she carried herself, seemingly too young and innocent to be there in the first place, but her eyes said otherwise. They were big and brown, and fiercely determined, showing absolutely no fear of the man she stood before. And now she had taken his gun.

She tossed his weapon to the side and raised her lightsaber towards him. “General Hux, you are under arrest for violations of the Galactic Concordance peace treaty.”

Hux quickly weighed his options. He was well out of reach of her lightsaber, plus she had foolishly tossed the gun onto the ground. Before he could even fully decide, he felt his feet take him running in the opposite direction, but he barely made three steps when he felt a sudden massive force nearly lift him off the ground, then slam his body against the nearest wall.

Able to throw a full grown man around like a ragdoll? Unpredictable and dangerous indeed.

With the wind knocked out of his lungs, he had no time to move before the lightsaber was at his throat, hovering just far enough for him to feel its intense heat. “ _Don’t move_ ,” she said, and another group of Resistance Fighters came marching around the corner towards them, each one looking triumphant when they spotted him.

_Fuck_

 

* * *

 

Hux had been handcuffed and brought to the main bridge with his hands behind his head. All of the surviving Troopers and Officers had been brought there as well. They were lined up into several rows, all on their knees, all with their cuffed hands behind their heads. Hux had felt his stomach drop a little when he spotted Phasma’s chrome body armor among them. Now he sat front and center in front of everyone else, waiting for… something. Everyone had remained silent for the past few minutes, doing absolutely nothing. He resisted the urge to look around confused at the Resistance fighters, whom he had initially expected to be celebrating, and instead sat as still and straight as possible.

Finally, a smug-looking young man sauntered over to stand in front of Hux. He seemed completely different from the other fighters. He was not in uniform, wearing only civilian clothes, a holster and gun, dark hair that seemed much too long for any standard military regulations, which had been pulled back into a ponytail.

The man brought his hands together and smiled charmingly. “Hello, First Order. Glad you all could make it tonight. I am just _ecstatic_ to be part of this phenomenal historic event. And in case you’re all wondering, yes, I _am_ the man responsible for this attack. You can thank me later.”

 _I cannot believe I’ve just been foiled by this egotistic moron_ , Hux drearily thought.

It was that moment that the young man suddenly looked towards Hux and gestured at him. “And what a turnout, am I right? I can’t believe I get the honor of meeting the great General Hux _himself_. He certainly looks happy to be here.”

Silence

The man smirked and placed his hands behind his back, finally taking a more formal stance. “Alright, let’s get down to business. My name is Ben Solo, son of General Organa, the leader of the Resistance. You’ve probably heard of me. And now I’m going to be blunt with you all. In a moment, my soldiers are going to round you all up and ship you off to the Resistance headquarters where you will be held prisoner and await Republic trial for your war crimes.” Ben then looked directly at Hux, who met his eyes with a venomous stare. “The higher officials among you will certainly be put on death row.”

Hux did not change his demeanor in the slightest, so Ben looked back to the others and continued. “Those of you in the lower ranks – yes, Troopers, I’m looking at you – are now being offered a choice. Stand and join the Resistance, or remain with your comrades forever in Republic prison.”

Hux inwardly smirked. None of his solders were going to stand up. They were all exceptionally trained, programmed from birth-

“Sit down, 2187!” Phasma suddenly shouted.

“Quiet!” a Resistance solder shouted back.

Hux turned, eyes slightly widened, and saw FN 2187 hesitantly stand. The crowd began to buzz with murmurs, all of which sounded like “traitor”.

Hux turned forward again, but he could not lift his eyes from the floor out of what he would later deny was embarrassment.

Several fighters kept their guns trained on 2187, but allowed him to step away from the others. Ben smiled again. “Any others? Going once, going twice, sold!” He then leaned in toward one of the fighters. “Keep a close eye on that one. And the rest, ship ‘em away. Blow this thing once everybody’s off.”

“Yessir!” the fighter said with a salute. The whole room soon became alive again once they started to move everyone. One fighter approached Hux and gestured with her gun for him to stand up. He obliged, but his stone cold expression did not change… that is until Ben Solo suddenly grabbed him by the arm.

“At ease, soldier. _This_ one rides with me.”

_Fuck_

 

* * *

 

He was placed aboard a small ship, still handcuffed, but allowed to sit without any other restraints. Considering his surroundings, it would be futile to put up any sort of fight. The one he was most weary of was the girl from before, whom he now realized was only a Padawan by the small braid that hung over her shoulder. She sat in the passenger seat, looking back at him every once in a while, just to glare daggers. The pilot sitting next to her had called her Rey at some point, to which she referred back to him as Poe. Ben was seated across from him, taking a nap while wearing cordless ear phones like the unprofessional dolt he was constantly displaying himself to be. Then there was the droid… a small spherical thing that had zapped him in the leg when he was first brought on board. Now it wouldn’t stop watching him.

At some point during the trip, Ben awoke with a violent jolt as if he had just had a nightmare, but quickly composed himself. That didn’t stop the pair in the cockpit from noticing.

“Are you okay, Ben?” Rey asked.

“Yeah, this seat is just… really uncomfortable.” Ben said, pretending to stretch his back. Rey and Poe both glanced worriedly at each other, but said nothing else. Ben rolled his eyes and turned towards them. “Will you guys stop fussing over there? I _said_ I’m fine.” Another several moments passed before Ben suddenly jumped up and exclaimed, “Oh, yeah?! Well we all know Poe has a problem with sneaking out and smoking Mudrass grass every night, but you don’t see _me_ having a fit every time he does!”

 _Holy stars, this man is certifiably crazy_ , Hux thought.

“Nope, I can just read minds.”

Hux was caught off guard, and bristled as Ben’s statement. Was this a prank? It had to be! Although the snickering that now came from the cockpit did not confirm nor deny anything.

“No, General, this is not a prank.” Ben said with his usual charming smile, and the snickering turned into full laughter. These people were absolutely nuts.

“And I’ll have you know, Ben,” Poe started, “That I only smoke three times a week or less, but you should already know that.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

_Way to deflect the conversation away from your own problems, Solo. You have practically guaranteed to your friends that you’re just a coward._

Ben’s head snapped back towards Hux, most of the humor now gone from his face. “And what about you, General? You haven’t said a single word since your capture.”

_Because I don’t need to._

Ben leaned forward and smirked. “You know, you’re a lot skinnier than I had first pictured you.”

_Try commanding an entire army for several years, and you’d find there is little time to eat in excess._

“I’m just talking about muscle mass. You look like you could barely snap a pencil.”

_I don’t need more mass in order to appear intimidating to my troops._

“Says the one wearing shoulder pads.”

Poe and Rey started to laugh again. Even the little droid began to wobble and beep in sync with them. Perhaps you didn't need to understand the full conversation in order to tell he just got burned. Hux could feel his face heating up ever so slightly, but it was enough for Ben to notice.

“Ha, look how cute he is when he gets flustered.”

“Gross, Ben.” Rey said, humor suddenly gone from her voice.

_I could break your damn neck if I wanted!_

“Aww, he’s getting even madder. Look at him!”

“A-alright, Ben,” Poe said hesitantly, “Maybe we shouldn’t be taunting him. He _is_ dangerous, if you don’t remember.”

Ben sat back in his seat and laughed. “What? I call ‘em like I see ‘em. And you, General Hux, are just _adorable_.”

_I am going to kill you, Ben Solo. I will hunt you down, slice your throat in your sleep, and laugh my ass off while I watch you bleed out._

Instead of being scared, Ben looked absolutely intrigued. “Is that a challenge, General?”

For the first time since being captured, Hux grinned. Darkly.

_It’s a promise._


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eh, I guess this is more of an exposition chapter than anything, kind of like setting the stage. I promise more interesting stuff will start happening.

Everyone had fallen asleep for the remainder of the trip to D’Qar. Everyone except for Hux and the dumb little droid. The General knew it was wise not to attempt anything. BB units were small, but well equipped with enough instruments to detain a man for making any sudden moves. Instead, he sat, stared at the opposing wall, and thought. He thought about the frustration of being taken captive mere _months_ before Starkiller was due to be finished, he thought about how much he despised Solo and his accomplices, he thought about whether or not he would be interrogated for First Order information, he thought about what awaited him in the prisons of the Republic, and he thought about how he could possibly escape them. If there was one thing he would never allow happen to him, it was to spend the rest of his days trapped in a box. He would find a way out no matter the cost.

Once Poe had begun to land the ship on the Ressistance base, Ben had finally roused from his obnoxiously loud sleep. It did not come to Hux’s surprise that the decibel magnitude of the man’s snoring matched the size of his nose. The cargo ships holding the other prisoners landed soon after.

The bay doors were opened, and Hux was immediately greeted by a near overwhelming wave of humidity and bright light. Ben gave him no time to adjust to the environment, and quickly ushered him out of the ship with an ever so unsubtle smack on the butt. This caused Hux to reflexively clench every part of his body, and evoked a low, unamused grunt from the Padawan girl standing behind them.

“He’s not a plaything, Ben, he’s a criminal. Start treating him like one.”

“Aw, but doesn’t he look like a pretty little doll, though?”

_Call me a doll again, and I will carve your balls out of your sack with a wooden spoon._

Ben barked a laugh. “You will not believe some of the insults this guy is coming up with, Rey. It’s _almost_ intimidating.”

Rey rolled her eyes and walked a few more steps before suddenly stopping. Shock and panic was written all over her face. “Uh… I think that’s the least of your problems at the moment.”

Ben followed her gaze and spotted General Organa storming directly towards them, and Luke Skywalker followed close behind. Neither of them looked particularly happy.

“Oh my, _she’s_ up early,” Ben said half humorously, but a certain level of panic was evident in his tone as well. “Don’t worry, I got this. Keep an eye on General Ginger for me,” He said, before stepping away to approach his mother. Hux and Rey glanced each other over with matching looks of distaste.

“Ben, what the _hell_ is going on?!” Organa almost shouted. “I never gave you the green light to use my fleet!”

Ben held his hands up to his mother. “Okay, I know this looks bad, but I’m telling you right off the bat: the ends have justified the means! Just look what I brought back!” he then proceeded to gesture towards the plethora of troopers being unloaded from the cargo ships, and then to Hux. “This is a major victory for us. I’ve managed to capture _the_ General Hux.”

“It’s a victory I never approved of. Did you have to lie to my troops about my permission to go raid a damned _Star Destroyer_?! We don’t have the info on hand to safely pull such a thing off. You charged in there blind! With _my_ army! You could’ve all been killed!”

“But we weren’t! There were no casualties, and only eight injuries!” Ben leaned in closer to talk softer. “I told you before, those Troopers can’t shoot worth bantha shit.”

Leia shook her head in hopelessness. “If you had any sense of strategic proficiency, you would have known how terrible an idea it is to assume such things before charging into battle.”

“Oh, spare me the lecture, mother. Maybe you should learn to trust my instincts, because as far as I’m concerned, Rey and I just cut the head off the First Order snake. We now have the General, his co-commanding officer, and a notable amount of their army. The rest of the Order will shrivel up and die without them.”

“Well _speaking_ of which,” Leia exclaimed while glancing over at the girl, “I _cannot_ believe you snagged Rey into this as well. Now Luke is on bad terms with his best pupil because of you.”

“Don’t put that on me! She wanted to go on her own accord! I just thought she would be useful, so I didn’t stop her. And don’t overplay how mad the old man is. He isn’t that-” Ben gestured to the spot Luke had been standing in a moment ago, but quickly realized he had silently walked over to confront Rey. The two were currently having a discussion just as heated as his own. Hux stood next to them, rolling his eyes self-importantly.

Organa shook her head once again. “You know how Rey is with wanting to be taken seriously. Don’t encourage her to seek out trouble in order to prove herself.”

“Mother, I-”

“That’s enough, Ben.” She said before looking around at all the troopers once again. “We will continue this conversation later. As for now, I was not _expecting_ to be brought so many prisoners. Show them all to their new cells. I now have some calls to make with the Republic. You’re dismissed.”

Stars forbid anything made of glass came within three meters of Ben, because his anger was a near tangible aura of pressure and heat surrounding him. One pilot learned this the hard way when the visor on her helmet cracked after walking past the enraged man.

Hux watched Solo stand and seethe in anger for another several moments, before he composed himself and barked orders at the troops to escort the prisoners to the holding cells. This time it was Poe that grabbed his arm and led him along, leaving Skywalker and his apprentice behind to continue their petty argument. The BB unit followed close behind the Pilot, always keeping its optics trained on the General.

Hux felt a hundred pairs of curious eyes latch on to him as he was forced through the jailing process. A mugshot was taken of him from behind a window, separating him and the Resistance fighters in two different rooms. He was asked to fully strip to allow for all his orifices to be fully checked. A humiliation tactic, no doubt. Hux had no doubt they had x-ray technology on hand, but he still complied, keeping a straight face as a man in a hazmat suit opened every hole in his body and shone a flashlight into each. A crowd had gathered on the other side of the window to watch the display. They all laughed and ogled and mocked him from the safety of their separate room. Ben solo was not among them, to Hux’s surprise. Good. The less his mind could be read, the better.

After what felt like ages of being prodded and intruded, he was finally given a set of white pajama-like clothes to wear for a prison uniform. They led him to a standard holding cell. It seemed large enough to hold at least five people, but only had two cots. The outward-facing wall was made of transparisteel, which meant no privacy.

One by one, six more prisoners were shoved into the cell. Phasma was one of them. Hux realized that all of the people in his cell were those among the higher ranking officers. All were people he had personally given orders to. They perhaps looked up to him even more than the Troopers did. He did not make eye contact with any of them, and only kept his focus on the opposing wall in thought.

Through his peripheral, he saw each officer stare at him at one point or another. Some looked frightened, some looked furious, but all said the same thing.

_Do something! Help us!_

Hux inwardly sneered. The thought of saving everyone from this base was laughable. He would be lucky to make it out just by himself.

Escaping would require him to find a flaw in the system. Some kind of weak link among the Resistance that he could exploit. It would be difficult to find one from the inside of a prison cell, unless…

He suppressed an irritated groan once he realized he already knew the answer.

This plan required Ben Solo.

 

* * *

 

If there was one place Poe could find Ben when he was angry, it would be hiding in the cockpit of the old X-wing that was kept in hangar A. It was an older model from the days of the Galactic Civil war. It could no longer fly, so it was only kept around for morale purposes. Ben was almost always found pouting in the pilot’s seat after having a fit of anger.

Poe hesitantly opened the hatch before climbing up to peek into the cockpit. Ben had his arms crossed, and his head was turned away.

“Go away.” Ben mumbled.

Poe tried not to think about how childish this appeared. “Uh… look, Ben, I think it’s amazing what you did today, but-”

“But _she_ doesn’t think so! She never does!”

“Well, you _did_ kinda go behind her back without telling any of us.”

Ben sat up in his seat and pointed a finger at Poe. “Look, _I_ just won us a huge victory today. She refuses to see it that way because my methods were _questionable_.”

“I honestly agree with her on that, though. You never even explained how you located the Star Destroyer in the first place.”

“I told you before not to worry about it, Poe. All that matters is we’ve severely damaged the enemy today.”

“Yes, but you-”

Poe was interrupted again. This time by the intercom speakers.

“ _Poe Dameron and Benjamin Solo-Organa please report to General’s office immediately_.”

Ben cringed slightly at the use of his full name. Leia must’ve had them announce that on purpose. Wordlessly, he climbed out of the pilot’s seat and jumped to the floor. Poe followed close behind him on the walk to Organa’s office, but felt it best not to speak. Ben was undoubtedly a loose cannon, and that was worrisome to most people. Poe tried not to think it, especially with the man in his presence, but perhaps Ben was never meant to be in the military. Many of those who knew him mutually agreed that Jedi training probably would have been a better path for him. Ben had always insisted on not going, and Leia had reluctantly agreed to keep him with her after splitting with her husband, but his life would have certainly been different if Leia had made a different choice. Perhaps it would’ve been better. No one could say.

Just as the two neared the door to Leia’s office, Rey suddenly came bursting out of it. She looked to be on the verge of tears. The moment she spotted Ben, she rushed to him and threw her arms around his shoulders. Luke slowly stepped out after her, holding a look that seemed halfway between solemn and sad.

“Leia just got done lecturing me on my mistakes for following you,” Rey said, voice wavering from emotion.

Ben sighed. “Of course she did.” Rey said nothing back. She only whimpered a bit into his shoulder. He pulled back slightly to look at her face. “Hey, kiddo, I know she can be tough, but she isn’t _that_ scary. What else is wrong?”

“I… Luke… he’s taking me back to Yavin 4… today.”

“Oh…”

“Yeah… I’m… I just really feel like I screwed up. Luke is really upset with me and I just… I just-”

“Hey, you don’t need to be so hard on yourself. He may not look it right now, but the old man is just glad you’re alive. He’s being bitter right now because it’s his _job_.”

Rey sniffed. “I know, I know, it’s just that… this also doesn’t look so good as far as becoming a knight goes.”

“Trust me, you don’t need to worry if you get docked a few points on your Jedi Knight score. You’re his top student for a reason. You’ll make up for it in no time.”

Rey smiled warmly, tears threatening to stream again, and hugged him once more. “I’m going to miss you at the academy.”

Ben tightly hugged her back. After several emotionally loaded moments, she broke away to give a goodbye hug to Poe as well. Both men watched her follow Luke down the corridor afterwards. Sentiment hung in the air as thickly as the humidity. After a long while, Poe muttered almost too quietly, “She must be the only person in the galaxy that can make you happy that quickly,” as if he expected to trigger Ben’s anger with his statement.

He didn’t. Instead, Ben simply walked through the door to his mother’s office. He had almost forgotten she was mad at him when she greeted him with a salty expression. “Sit,” she said bluntly, pointing to the two chairs across from her desk.

Ben rolled his eyes, but complied. Poe walked in right after, and Leia’s demeanor immediately lightened up. “Welcome, Poe. You may take a seat if you’d like.”

It took all of Ben’s nerve not to groan like an angsty teenage girl fed up with her parents.

_Jesus Christ, is she really doing this right now?!_

For a brief moment, Leia sported an impish grin on her face. Ben knew she was sensing his displeasure with the present situation and loving it. She then quickly composed herself, leaned against her desk, and faced Poe.

“Dameron, give me the final details of the mission.”

Poe and Ben both exchanged slightly confused looks. Having not led the mission, the pilot was not expecting to give a report. “Er, the mission was… successful. There were no casualties, only eight injured-”

“Mother, I’ve already told you these things,” Ben suddenly pitched in.

“Did I give you permission to speak, Ben?” Leia, interjected, tone suddenly quite stern. Ben glared at her, but clamped his mouth shut. She turned back to Poe and gestured for him to continue.

“We, ah, also have a defector. He calls himself FN-2187.”

“Yes, Rey told me about that. Just the type of name I’d expect from an organization such as theirs.”

Poe’s face beamed with smugness. “Indeed, ma’am, which is why I decided to name him Finn.”

“How creative.” Leia said satirically. “Since you seem to like this one so much, I’m assigning you to keep an eye on him for the next several weeks. We don’t want any double agents in our ranks, of course.”

“With pleasure, ma’am!” Leia paused and cocked her eyebrow at Poe. The pilot’s face began to redden slightly. “Er, I mean-”

“That’s enough on the defector, Poe. Now, I have a proposal for you.”

“Yes, ma’am?”

“I have contacted our friends in the Republic. Tomorrow I will be traveling to Hosnian Prime to discuss our recent… _triumph_ over the First Over. If all goes well, I should return in three weeks with a transportation fleet to bring our prisoners to the Capitol. While I’m gone, Poe, I want to put you in charge of the base’s operations.”

Poe swallowed, suddenly feeling much tension in the atmosphere. He glanced over at Ben, who’s expression did not change, but the air around him seemed it could catch on fire at any moment. “With respect, General, I, ah, don’t know if this is necessary. I’m not exactly qualified for this position. Ben is your second-in-command.”

“Ben is having his second-in-command privileges temporarily restricted as punishment for going against my regulations. I can’t think of anyone more capable of overseeing the base with _dignity_ and _respect_ than you, Poe.”

The pilot glanced nervously between the General and her son. He never asked to be sucked into this family drama, and he hadn’t been expecting to be given such a heavy responsibility, but orders were orders. “Yes, ma’am. I will manage the base while you are away.”

“Very good, Dameron. You’re dismissed.”

“Yes, General.” Poe quickly left the room before the discomfort in the air could grow any stronger.

Once the pilot had left, Leia turned to her son. “Do you know why I called you up here?”

“Here we go,” Ben mumbled, his head hitting the back of the chair. “You just want to lecture me some more, right? Right after using Poe to get back at me right in my face?!”

“Incompetence, rebelliousness, and overall childish attitude aside, I’ve actually called you here to give you a warning. I don’t want you interacting with any of the prisoners while I'm gone, Ben. _Especially_ the General. They’re very smart people.”

“I’m well aware of this, mother.”

“Are you, now?”

“ _Yes!_ I don’t understand why you feel the need to tell me this.”

Leia sat down in her seat and narrowed her eyes at her son. “Rey told me you were _flirting_ with General Hux on the trip back.”

 _That little snitch!_ Ben thought as he defensively crossed his arms. “I wasn’t _flirting_ , mother, I was just messing with him. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“That man is a genius, Ben. _Do not_ underestimate him. You’re on thin ice as it is, so I don’t want you to cause us any more problems. Understand?”

Ben sighed. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Very good. And remember to behave yourself while I’m gone.”

“Oh sure! It’s not as if I’d ever be edgy about you giving my second-in-command position to your new favorite son. I’m sure I’ll play nice with the other kids.”

Leia crossed her arms. “It’s bad enough for me that half the Resistance hates you for being a brash fool with no regard for the rules, and only holds a position of power because his mother is the General. I have to be stricter with you now for the sake of _morale_. Try acting like a real soldier for once, don’t have any more incidents while I’m gone, and _maybe_ I’ll let you have your privileges back.”

Fed up, Ben stood and stomped out the door in his second fit of anger that day. Leia felt the impulse to chide him for leaving without being dismissed, but decided that it just wasn’t worth it this time. It seemed that all attempts at being orderly and reasonable with him just went straight over his head.

Ben Solo was truly hopeless.


End file.
